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MAUNA KEA, Hawaiʻi - State law enforcement began taking down the two structures - one at in the area of Hale Pohaku, and the other at the lower elevation on Hawaiian Home Lands - early this morning.

(BIVN) – Early Thursday morning, state law enforcement officials began dismantling two structures on Mauna Kea: Hale Kukiaʻimauna and Hale Kūhiō.

Hale Kukiaʻimauna – located in the area of the mid-level Hale Pohaku ares of Mauna Kea – was constructed by those in opposition to the Thirty Meter Telescope project in 2015.

Hale Kūhiō, in its first form, was put up at the lower elevation, off the side of the Mauna Kea Access Road on Hawaiian Home Lands, in March 2018. It was the base of the Mauna Kea Rangers effort to collect data and was a symbol of the dissatisfaction with the state-run Department of Hawaiian Home Lands.

A DLNR letter of “notice of disposition of abandoned or seized propoerty” read:

To Whom It May Concern,

On June 20, 2019 the Department of Land and Natural Resources, State of Hawaiʻi, took possession of property that was abandoned on land owned by the State of Hawaiʻi located within the Mauna Kea Forest Reserve (hereinafter “abandoned or seized property”).

The Department of Land and Natural Resource (DLNR) hereby gives notice, pursuant to section 171-31.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), that it intends to donate, sell or dispose of the abandoned or seized property. Any property that remains unclaimed after July 20 , 2019, [30 days after above date] will be disposed of, sold, or donated. An inventory of the abandoned or seized property is attached to this notice.

If you want to retrieve any of the property listed in the inventory, please contact the DLNR Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE) at (808) 933-3460 [phone number] prior to July 20, 2019 [date in second paragraph] to arrange a date and time for pick-up. At that time. you must provide proof that you are entitled to the property. DLNR will donate, sell or dispose of the abandoned or seized property pursuant to HRS § 171-31.5 if you do not contact DOCARE within the time provided.

Sources say the ʻahu erected on the summit-area of Mauna Kea could also be taken down today.